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Submitted by
RaphaelMabo
a Audio Enthusiast
from Date Reviewed: September 4, 2010
Bottom Line: Sumiko Pearl is a musical and sweet sounding cartridge. It excels in digging out the heart and soul and giving music life and space. Bass is solid and firm, midrange sweet and articulated, treble is airy and free of hard edges. A bit laid back in character with a tight soundstage. Excellent tracking and unsensitive to worn out records, concentrates more on bringing out the music rather than exposing faults and errors with the records.
Not the most detailed cartridge for the price, but one of the most musical ones.
My system:
Sumiko Pearl catridge, Thorens TD280 MkII turntable, Thorens MM01 phono pre-amp, Alchemist Nexus amplifier, ALR Jordan Entry 2M speakers.
Music I listen to: Soul, r'nb, reggae, new wave from the 80's, pop, dance tracks.
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
Raphael Mabo
a Audio Enthusiast
from Date Reviewed: September 3, 2010
Bottom Line: Sumiko Pearl is an excellent cartridge with solid and firm bass, sweet and detailed midrange and spacious treble. My old and well used discs comes truly alive, and the cartridge is not bothered by Mr Pop, Crack and Scratch. It is silent and not sensitive to static electricity. I play soul, r'nb, classic 80's new wave, reggae, dub, synth tunes and dance tracks. The Pearl handles them all well. It is a well balanced, rhytmic and detailed sound that is all about music.
I use it mounted on my Thorens TD280 MkII with Thorens TP28 tonearm, connected to Thorens MM01 phono pre-amp. I previously used the Goldring 2200, which was a more analytical high resolution cartridge. Compared to the Pearl, the Goldring was sharper and more forward sounding. Pearl has brought the soul back, candy to my ears. Sound is close to the Denon DL-110 that I used to have years ago, but the Pearl sounds more well balanced.
The Pearl tracks very well.
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Submitted by
whell
a Audio Enthusiast
from Date Reviewed: January 4, 2009
Strengths: Tonal balance, and lack of any added sonic characteristics that might color the sound. Great value at $95.Weaknesses: Not the most insightful and resolving cartridge that I've ever heard, but at $95, I'd not expect it to be. Longer than typical break in period might cause some to be dismissive of this cartridge too early.Bottom Line: I picked this up from Needle Doctor as a customer return. This is my second time around with a Sumiko Pearl. The first one I had sold to upgrade the needle on a Shure V15 IV. Well, the Shure is gone and I was lucky enough to find a Pearl for a reasonable price.
This is 2nd from the bottom of Sumiko's product line, and one of only 2 moving magnet cartridges that Sumiko markets. Below the Pearl is the Oyster with a conical stylus, and above it is the Blue Point #2.
Sumiko makes no significant info available about the Pearl or the Oyster, compared the info it makes available about its pricier High Output Moving Coil products. So, here's some info I've gleaned from elsewhere on the internet:
Cartridge Type MM
Frequency Response (Hz) 12Hz-30kHz
Output Voltage/Channel (mV) 4mV
Channel Separation (dB) 30dB
Channel Balance (dB) 0,5dB
Compliance 15mm/N
Stylus size/shape (mil) Elp. 0,2x0,8mm
Load Impedance 47kOhm
Tracking Force Range (grams) 1.5 - 2.0
The cantilever on this stylus is quite stiff, even though the Pearl is meant for medium compliance tonearms. This simply means that the cartridge takes a bit longer to break in. 50 hours of playing time seems to be the norm. I can't emphasize this enough, as your initial listening experiences might seem unsatisfactory. The highs will sound more rolled off at first. But, its worth the wait, as at around 50 hours the cartridge starts to come into its own, and the highs become a smooth and glare free as one could want in a cartridge that costs under $100.
The best performance I've achieved with the Pearl is when the VTF is set to 2 grams, and the anti skale is set below the VTF at about 1.6 grams. It helps also to play with VTA a bit to get the stylus dialed to track on with your tonearm. Once the parameters are set to your satisfaction, and do play with these a bit, the fun begins.
The Pearl adds nothing, and subtracts nothing, from the listening experience. It provides a fatigue free listening experience, with smooth highs, a well balanced midrange, and a articulate and commanding low end that does not boom.
If your budget is in the $300 or less range, I'd suggest this cartridge worthy of your consideration. It is not the best cartridge I've ever heard, but in its price range, I'm hard pressed to think of another cartridge that provides as honest a listening experience as the Pearl is capable of.
Price Paid:
$55.00
Purchased At: Needle Doctor
Similar Products Used: Denon DL-300
Shure V15 III
Shure V15 IV
Shure M97xE
Shure M97HE
Shure M95ED
Stanton 881S
Stanton 681EEE
Audio Technica AT30E
Audio Technica AT12Sa
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Reviews 1 - 3 (3 Reviews Total)
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